Happy New Year

I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year. 

It's time to take down the tree (oh yes, I hate the clutter). I don't like to say that I'm glad to take down the tree, I'm not a scrooge but I need it to be simple. The older I get the more organized I need to be. 

I have a couple of pictures to share with you from Christmas, it is a pic of Bailey and Toby.

I really wish all Christmas gifts could be so cheap,  just a box for the cats and they are in paradise. I hear the stories of how in the old days all they had was a box to play with and they were so happy,  maybe it is true.

I have been rally busy with the "Serenity Harbor Sampler"; and all orders for shops went out today and so tomorrow by 10:00am the online charts should be in email boxes for the people that have signed up with me. 

Be safe tonight if you go out. We just ordered our Chinese food to be picked up and will be staying home this evening, no big parties for us, just relaxing by the TV.  Hope to find something good to watch. 

Talk to yo next year!

donna

Christmas Time Decoration Share

Good evening, I am posting a picture of my Nativity. It is the same one I have had for years and I still enjoy putting up the pieces and adding the lights. I don't even think they make the yearly additions any more but that's ok because it would be huge if I had collected them every year. Have a peaceful night and I am off to watch a YouTube channel, we got rid of cable months ago and I don't miss it, this way I am in more control of what I watch and my time :)

donna

Psalm 34:14

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Wool Popcorn Garland Tutorial

Good day everyone, We have finally finished decorating the tree :) and now more cleaning!
I baked a huge bunch of cookies the other day and boy did the house smell good, wish I could have shared it with you, I could even smell the cookies on me when I went to the grocery store.

I wanted to share this tutorial with you that I have been sharing with the Wool/Feather Tree classes. 

A lady at one of the first classes that I taught shared this with us and I am passing it on.

I took my cream colored felted(Washed) wool, sprayed it with my left over morning coffee (in a spray bottle)and let it dry. I wanted it to look like real popcorn with a bit of tan for the seeds. Then I cut it into a long strip 6 inches wide by whatever length you have, took my rotary cutter and cut it into 1/2 inch(or a little smaller)wide strips.
I then took my red wool and rotary cut the strips into 1/4 inch wide strips. Take the strips and cut into 2 inch long pieces.
Using a ball of perle cotton and threading it onto a very long doll needle I then started using a gather or running stitch down the long center of a coffee dyed strip of wool.

 Then take a red strip of wool and roll it up like a jelly roll and insert your needle through the side center. (See Photo).

 Keep adding the wool by alternating the cream wool along with the red.

 For some of the the cream pieces I cut them in half to make it look more like a real strip of popcorn(varying the sizes). * I kept pushing the wool down the ball of perle cotton because I was not sure how long I wanted to make the garland, so by keeping it on the ball this let me keep going in my garland length.

This is a great size for the 12 inch Wool/Feather Trees, and if you want to make them for a larger tree just make the width of the strips larger.

Hope you enjoy and have time to make some garland.

Directions can be purchased here for the trees

New Fabric from Fabric Flair for the Serenity Harbor Sampler

Just a quick post that Fabric Flair is in the process of making a special fabric for the "Serenity Harbor Sampler"
It is a light grey that will be mottled (if that was the right word) :) As soon as I receive the sample I will post a picture for you. It will be called "Serenity Harbor Grey", you can order it in Aida, linen, or  an even-weave. You will have to order from a shop because they are only wholesale. Don't worry if you do not have your fabric by Jan 3rd because the first months design is part of the sun, along with flowers, so you will be able to catch up quickly if your fabric is late :). I also received the Antique Sage which is close to DMC 3047, this is beautiful too. The Antique White was to light for the sky area of the design, so my choice is between the Antique Sage and the "Serenity Harbor Grey", Still time to decide :)

I have been trying to decorate for Christmas (Notice the word trying). My family has been sick so it was up to me to take care of the tree. I usually have a fake tree because the last time we had a real tree it was such a mess to get it from point A to the outside and into the trash (Huge trail of pine needles) and I was left to clean so I said never again!!  But when those sad eyes are looking at you and they just want a real tree (they love the smell) I had to give in. So I was on a quest for a tree stand, 3 shops and no luck :( but the fourth was a charm. I asked the kind gentle man to tie  that tree on the roof of my car and I was on my way home. With much needed help we got the tree in the stand, straight and watered. Then I figured I would try to add the lights (but I didn't check to see if they still worked first) and you guessed it, I strung them onto the tree, plugged them in and no luck, so I took the lights out and into the garbage. Early today I was on my way again to shop for lights and YEAH they are  in the tree. We will decorate it tomorrow and maybe I can share some photos. That was a long story, have a good night

Contact folders are back :) CRAZY

I came back to turn the computer off for the night and figured I would check again and they are back .....

this is crazy but I am HAPPY.

Have a good night

My Aol acct has lost my contact list :(

I just went to my AOL email account only to find I have no more contacts, so I will use another acct. If you receive an email from me on AOL with an attachment please be careful, not sure what has happened. I was sending the PDF with the Sampler info from AOL and that should be fine; it is just from today forward.
And I have added another Blog for the Serenity Harbor Sampler. We reached the limit of 100 authors so I had to make "Serenity Harbor Sampler Continued". There are still invites open on the first blog and I have those counted in the 100, so if you could please accept the invite by Dec 20th that would be wonderful because I need to cancel out any invites that are still open by that date.
Have a good night and I am off to type email address to another acct :)
donna

a photo share from Suzanne

From Suzanne, Just beautiful

I do not have any photos to share at the moment, I was teaching this weekend and busy organizing the Sampler project that I have not stitched but I do have a photo to share with you from Suzanne. She finished the free stitch a long I had this summer. She is the first one to share this design, so thank you Suzanne. In her email to me she shared how she persevered through a few obstacles and learned new stitches to finish it,

 just Beautiful :)

If you have signed up for the "Serenity Harbor Sampler" check out the blog; I have sent out all invites to the participants and if you have not received one please email me and I can send you another. The only people that have not received one(a blogger invite) are the people that have signed up with a shop, 

those will go out soon, :)

Have a good night

donna

Luke 18:27,  "But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Still here :)

Sorry I have not posted in a couple of weeks. We had a very busy Thanksgiving. Hubby decided to have it as an open house and it is hard to plan when you do not know how many people will be here. We had a great time.

 I didn't realize how I had fallen behind in house work, it felt like I was doing spring cleaning for a few days before everyone came over. 

We had a bonfire outside for Meagan and her friends and it had just snowed the day before so they made a snowman. It was fun to see her friends over; it was open house for her too and they are all around 21 years old :) 

Mom spent the the week with us, I always feel like I can not go up to the office to work on the computer because I don't want to leave her alone so I did some punch needle as we watched so many movies, I have more stitching to catch up on. 

Almost finished the angel from the previous post, the blocks are decoupaged and distressed, dowels are painted, and I am just working on the star for the top. 

I am off to answer emails and sorry if I have not answered your email yet, I am on the way :)

donna

today's weather

  Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Punch Needle work is what I have been up to

Punch Needle Angel back side that has been glued, dried, and carefully cut out

The front side of the Punch Needle Angel, just waiting for finishing touches :)

These are couple of pictures of my punch needle angel that I made the other day with Weeks Dye Works 3 strand floss. I just have to cut out the cardboard shape, glue to the back and then more finishing. I will share photos tomorrow, can't wait; but hubby has a long doc appointment in the morning so cant share until late in the day. check back then :)

donna

Sampler Email arriving later today and new cross stitch design finished

"It Just Needs Love" counted cross stitch design and embroidery

Close-up of embroidery

finished with wool leaves

Happy morning,

I have been working on the letter for all those  that have signed up for "Serenity Harbor Sampler"
I finally have all of the floss listed with color names and fabric sizes figured out for you, and now I just need to add all the email addresses to a folder for email delivery :)
But this will have to be done this afternoon because I am on my way to Camp Wool to teach class for the wool/feather trees :). So make sure to check your emails and check spam in case it could go there.
I finished the design "It Just Needs Love" in cross stitch and along with the cross stitch pattern I have the line drawing so you can embroider it like I did. Included in this chart pack will be the finishing directions for the wool embroidered bag.

I am of to curl my hair :) until later, have a good day

donna

"It Just Needs Love" and a big thank you :)

"It Just Needs Love" Punch needle design

 This is my Punch Needle design that is on Etsy and ready to go. Not everyone likes to punch needle so I made this design in Cross Stitch. I just finished it this morning and along with the cross stitch design will be the layout for the Embroidery. See my photo below, I am still working on it, and decided to make the blanket into a French Knot blanket. Almost done :)

"It Just Needs Love" cross stitch design

"It Just Needs Love" embroidery design

Our cactus on the porch is sending LOVE ,  it is just beautiful :)

I would like to thank everyone that has signed up for the "Serenity Harbor Sampler" Group. I am overwhelmed with gratitude, thank you again and the emails will be going out soon with the info for fabric sizes and floss colors, along with the invite to our special blog.

Have a good night

donna

just sent out newsletters with a small freebie and new Punch Needle design

"It Just Needs Love" Punch Needle Design

The newsletters have just gone out and they contained a small freebie for the Holidays. 

This is my new punch needle design. I used Weeks Dye Works and DMC. It will be available tomorrow on Etsy. I just finished this punch needle design with some wool tabs all around. It will include the line drawing for tracing and the templates for the tabs. I traced the tabs so that all you have to do is trace or copy the tabs onto freezer paper, iron onto your wool, cut them out and stitch away. So I traced all 30 tabs for you :) ,

One more thing that I have included is the sheet of paper that has the saying about the tree. It brings back my childhood memories, when times were so simple. The sheet also has 3 more Christmas sayings on it for you to choose from if you want to add this to your piece.  I burned mine around the edges with a candle and a dabbed with the wet sponge to stop it from burning to much. 

I am tired so off to bed early and you have a good night

donna

I made a mistake :( Mister Turkey background color for Punch Needle

I was at Camp Wool today and a customer came in and was going to purchase Mister Turkey punch needle from the shop and was having a hard time matching the background color. So since I was there I offered to help. Matching O513 with the model was not working and then I thought OH NO what have I done. I opened another draw and found the correct color. It is O153. 
So I apologize if this has caused anyone confusion. When I have my next run of charts I will correct it.
But this is all I can do is post this and send out notices to shop owners.
Pass it on please
donna

Class pic from Saturday and a Etsy Special

Class was fun on Saturday and I met some very nice ladies. 

They all finished their trees by the time class was done!! 

YEAH!!! Hope they will be making more.

I have been adding charts to Etsy and will add more tomorrow. 

Starting tomorrow if you spend $25.00 or more on Esty I will include in your mailed package the a FREE "Give Thanks Pillow Kit". 

I need to make room for more Holiday things and I have 13 of these left so when they are gone that will be the end of the SPECIAL. 

Have a great night

with a thankful heart

donna

"Blossom & Bees" special on Etsy...When supplies are gone I will not reprint :(

I have a special to offer you. I am discontinuing "Blossom and Bees" .

The regular price is $16.00 and includes the charted design, wool for the bee hive and a paper pin that I made to start your collection of pins for the hive. The sale price is $8.00 until my stock is depleted. 

I designed this in 2010 when I wanted to start using wool along with some cross stitching. I do love using wool and the little bee skep is 3 dimensional. I was also making the bee pins at the time and have not made them in a long time. Maybe I can have my daughter work on some for me and add them to the esty shop.

*******************************************

Here is some more info on the design that you might find helpful.

 Stitch Count 152 X 120    Design is approx. 9.5 X 7.5

32ct Sandstone linen

• 14 ct Aida or 28ct linen over 2 10.86 X 8.58

• 16 ct Aida or 32ct linen over 2  9.5 X 7.5

• 18 ct Aida or 36ct linen over 2 8.44 X 6.66

DMC

White

434

728

730

732

733

822

834

920

3371

3712

3829

Framing By: Valley House Primitives LLC 

http://www.valleyhouseprimitives.com

I used some Rhodes Stitches in the tiny hanging Bee hives. 

Have a good night

donna

****************

Proverbs 16:24

"Gracious words are like a honeycomb,

    sweetness to the soul and health to the body"

New stitching Club and more photo shares from fellow stitchers

New design for the "Bay-side Sampler Club"
This is my image for the new design that I will have starting in January.
I will have more info with this Fridays newsletter regarding this once a month stitching program.

Soooo Excited for this Club!!!!

**********************************************I had a late entry for the giveaway stitching challenge.

 It is Deb , check out her blog and this is her finish. A cute ornament and I love the polka dot ribbon. 

Thank you Deb for sharing and I have a small gift on the way for you.

************************************************

I also have another stitching friend from Maine. This is some work from Jackie, she lives in Fryburg Maine.

Stitched By Jackie

Stitched By Jackie

Stitched By Jackie

Just Beautiful and I thank everyone that shares their handwork with me. I appreciate it !!

Winner of the GIVEAWAY... and a conversion for Mr Turkey.Valdani, Weeks Dye Works and DMC

Happy Sunday, 

I have a winner for the giveaway. It is Eva from Hungary , she is the only entry and the pumpkin is adorable. Please visit her site, follow her if you can. 

So the pumpkin head punch needle that I made is going on a far away trip to his new home. 

Thank you so much Eva. Your work made my day :)

******************************************************

Many of you have asked for a conversion for the Valdani threads for "Mr Turkey" punch needle. 

They were wonderful to use with nice shading and I also used Weeks Dye works for the cross stitch turkey. Many of you like DMC too so I made my own conversion for the 3 different fiber companies.

****************************************

“Mister Turkey” Conversion Chart

I used Valdani 3 strand floss balls for the punch needle

 Weeks Dye for the Cross Stitch turkey 

These are my choices and they are not perfect but as close as I could choose. 

The DMC comparison should be blended or used as solids but alternating colors.

The choice is up to you. I hope this is helpful. donna.

Valdani           Weeks Dye DMC

O153 1264 Louden 831/3011

O501 4129 Swamp Water 3021/3781

O503 4121 Indian Summer 304/814

O506 2242 Cognac 921/301

O513 1236 Mocha 3863/3862

O572 3950 Chesapeake 500

P2      2197 Oscar 730/3011

P4          1107 Cattail 3033/Ecru

P12              1269 chestnut 801/938

                    1150 Spanish Moss     648/3072

******************************************************

I also have an announcement!!! I will be having a special design that is available on the Blog/Etsy. 

If you remember I mentioned long ago that I have been designing a 36 inch tall cross stitch scene. 

I have been working on this design for a few years. Always making changes. 

Well I finally finished it and will be offering it as a year long project. 

If you choose to participate you will be emailed a 3 inch by 11 inch section once a month to stitch. 

There will be a blog that you will be invited to publish on and share your photos.

 I still have to think of cute names and create the blog, the design is finished as a chart but of course I have not stitched it myself. We can do this project together. 

The cost will be $7.00 per month. You must sign up for the 12 months to complete this project and at the end I will be sending out to you a special  thank you kit made just for this class. 

So check back for more information and it should be fun. Plan on starting January 1st.

donna

Giveaway update and New design pics

Here are my pictures of ?

I need a name and not TOM, to many Toms out there 

This is a close up of my stitchery turkey. I added some distress stain around the outside of the stitching to make him look old and dirty. I already had pre-coffee dyed the fabric 

I finished him as a ditty bag

The next pictures are of my cross stitch turkey

He measures approx 7 x 7 and was stitched on 32ct linen. So it was hard to find a frame for him. I used an 8 x 10 that I had, set him of to the left and then thought I should fill it in with some bittersweet.

 So I went outside and picked some, brought it in the house and started to cut it up to lay it down and realized that the little orange pieces are so wet. I couldn't use that and have it stain the stitched piece so that idea was a wash. 

Maybe fake bittersweet would do but I didn't have time to go to the store. I found some fake red berries and added those to the picture by stitching those in place. 

I am happy now :)

The punch needle turkey is kinda finished. I added him to a wool background and I am not sure if I want to hang him or lay him on a table. 

But here are his pictures

I have to pick up hubby from the hospital again. He has been there for a few days and then take him to a doctors appt. As soon as I get back home I will work on the directions and these should be ready by Sunday or Monday the latest. 

GIVEAWAY UPDATE

I will have the drawing for the punch needle pumpkin head giveaway on Sunday. So get those photos in to be eligible :)

Hope you are having a good day, the weather here is terrible, so windy and so much rain. They say we are having a nor'easter. I can not imagine if this was snow!!. Its been days :(

Have Peace today

donna

Freebie for Punch Needle and a giveaway...but you have to do something too

It took me almost all day to finish these little guys. I kept trying different ways to finish them and kept changing my mind. I hate it when that happens :( but they are finally finished.
***One of the things I changed was the vine around the hat. I did punch needle it and didn't like it because it just looked like a mess of green, so I took it out and punch the hat plain black. The pattern that I have for you does have the vine drawn on the design but you can just omit it or if you use freezer paper and your copier, it will print but just ignore it and punch the hat all solid. So the colors are the same as the cross stitch design (had to improvise on one of the pumpkins, ran out of that color) but the backgrounds are DMC 831 and 833 for the green guy and the the other beige background  is an overdyed (lost the name-sorry). I used a 3 strand punch needle for the image but for the background I used 6 strands of floss.

BIG GIVEAWAY BUT THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!!

I will giveaway one of these guys ...the choice is up to the winner as to which one you would like. 

BUT........You have to cross stitch the FREEBIE from the previous post and send me a picture. That will get your name in the hat 1 time and if you post it on your blog and link back to me that will get your name in the hat 2x's . Yes it is a bit of work for you but it will be so much fun for us to see your finish and I can link back to you if you have a blog and other stitching friends will check you out. Who knows maybe you can make some new friends.

So here is the link to the pattern for punch needle, (just a plain line drawing) I have it imaged 2x's in case you want to make one for a friend at the same time and save on fabric waste :) 

Good Luck, Happy Stitching and hope to see those photos coming in 

email me at stitchbythebay at hotmail dot com 

donna

Freebie cross stitch chart today :). and punch needle tomorrow........

          Click here for free PDF pattern for cross stitch 

Here is a link to the free chart for this season. 

I have it in the cross stitch form and I will also have it the punch needle form. 

That will be posted tomorrow because I am still working on the punch needle. It will make a cute pin or just to hang. 

I hope you will enjoy it !!

Halloween Exchange........and a peek @ ?(no name yet)

This is what I received from L Smith. I am so sorry I lost the card you sent me but I still had the envelope with L Smith. This little guy came all the way from Australia along with some chocolate treats but those were gone before I had a chance to take the picture:) I just love him/her and I am so thankful so thank you, thank you, thank you , it was a nice surprise. 

This is what I sent out.   

This was the first time I ever did an exchange and I was not sure what to send or make but I enjoyed it and the surprise is the best waiting for the mailman. 

I truly love my pumpkin head :) and a big thank you to Kim from Wisdom with Needle and Thread for hosting this. 

I have been staying up pretty late at night stitching away on my turkey and this is my progress.

I am off to fold charts and check for the photos. 

Come back tomorrow for the Freebie, I am still playing with it, always seeing something I can change.

donna 

New Freebie Coming Soon .....and a peek of my new punch needle design

Happy Day!!, 

I just designed a free chart for you and I will post it on Friday. 

In case you missed the others here is a link to the posting for them. Family and Pet .
I have listed my tree stands that I made for my Wool Feather Trees and here is a picture, there is a separate listing for the tree directions on Etsy . The company that makes the cast iron tree stands is out of stock already so I made up these wood ones to go with class.
There is still time to sign up for the class at Yankee Cross Stitch that will be held on Oct 25. Call the shop for info.

I had a good time at Camp Wool on Saturday. I taught the Wool Feather Tree class and the ladies finished their trees that day.  I always learn something from the class and this time was no exception :)

Here is a peek at my new project. I have not named him yet but he is done in punch needle and I am cross stitching him and I am also stitching him with embroidery. This will be released as whole design pack and you will have the option to cross stitch, punch needle and/or embroider. Such fun !!!

I am still working on finishing him. I have added some tongues with wool from Weeks Dye Works and I checked into the year for the first Thanksgiving and it was 1621 

While I have your attention I also wanted to share with you a picture that I needle felted last year. At that time I framed it with what I had at home. It was a white frame along with a white mat and I didn't really  like it so this year I got out my handy vinegar along with my paints and faux finished the frame and the mat so here is the new picture!!.

I like it now and it is ready to go to someones home because I listed it on Etsy.

So have a good night and I will post more tomorrow along with the photo of what I received for the Halloween exchange that I did. It is so cute :))

have a good night

donna